How can I have a seperate texture and UV map for each of my different vertex groups?
How do vertex groups and UV maps interact with textures?  


Vertex groups are ,like the name suggests, just a grouping of vertices and don't store any information about textures.
the UV map is what connects the two together, it defines for each face in a mesh what part of the texture it has to show when rendered.


  How can I have a seperate texture and UV map for each of my different vertex groups?


I'll work with a subdivided cube and two textures.



I will assign the cube two textures,one to the top faces and one the right faces, both defined in vertex groups with their respective names.  

    

add as many UV maps as you need, it's a good idea to give them meaningful names.  

  

the workflow is as follow:  

-In edit mode ,make sure nothing is selected (press A once or twice).
-select the right texture in the UV image editor
-select the right UV map from the list
-select the right vertex group, and click on selected
-press W and select one of the UV unwrapping methods.
if you are not happy with how the UV is mapped to the texture you can either adjust it manually in the Image editor or do it again with a different unwrapping method.  



once done, you repeat the same process with the other textures as necessary.